Eli Cranor, author of the bestseller "Ozark Dogs," will be the guest speaker at the second annual Read Between the Wines on Feb. 8 at Embassy Suites by Hilton Hot Springs Hotel & Spa, 400 Convention Blvd.
The event benefits The Literacy Council of the Ouachitas, which promotes reading, math and digital literacy for adults across four counties.
"Read Between the Wines is a fundraiser we started last year that also ties into our mission and promotes literacy in our community," Sarah Richardson, executive director of the organization, said.
"We hosted Bitty Martin last year. She's a local author to share about her book, and we had book-themed decor and wine and great food. And we're doing it again this year. All the proceeds support the literacy council, but it's also a great time for those in our community who want to celebrate literacy to come out and enjoy a book-themed evening," she said.
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Cranor, writer in residence and instructor at Arkansas Tech University, is a former quarterback and football coach, whose second novel has been named one of the best crime novels of 2023 by the New York Times, The Guardian and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. His appearance at the event is being sponsored by Black Ribbon Books.
"He's out of Dardanelle, but he wrote a bestseller called 'Ozark Dogs,'" Richardson said. "It's fictional, but if you read it, the setting is familiar, and you'll feel like it happened here in Arkansas. He's done really well with it. He's excited to come and share with us."
Arkansas Broadcasters Association Executive Director Neal Gladner will emcee the event, and Richardson said attendees will hear about the organization as well as from Cranor.
"We'll have, of course, wine and mingling with the author," she said.
"Our emcee and myself will share a lot about literacy and Garland County and the other counties we started to serve. We're hoping to have one of our students from this year come share about his experiences. He's working on his schedule.
"That's always fun to hear from the people we're impacting, and then we'll hear from Eli Cranor. He's going to share about his writing process and his books. He's also written some short stories and some other things, so I hope he shares about those things, too," Richardson said.
Tickets for the event, which will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 8, start at $100 and can be purchased at:
https://bit.ly/RBTW2024
"If you want to go in with a group for a table of 10, it's a little less, and then we do actually have a couple of sponsorship spots left," Richardson said. "So if somebody wanted to get involved with that, that's another way to get tickets.
"We do have a lot of great sponsors so far. Kay Ekey did a sponsorship in honor of Melinda Gassaway, and Farrar & Williams and M3 Services, and of course, I mentioned Black Ribbon Books ... here locally all have gotten involved in doing some sponsorships. So the more the merrier, though, because we want it to be a good event."
Other sponsors include Relyance Bank and Bank OZK, Richardson said.
Richardson emphasized the need for the organization due to low literacy rates in the county.
"I think people will be stunned to learn how many people struggle to read," she said. "I know we've talked about it before, but about 20% of Garland County is below what's called a level one, according to that study, which is roughly a third grade, fourth grade reading level."
She noted 36% struggle with numeracy, "which is math below a fourth to fifth grade level. The Arkansas Broadband Commission estimates somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 adults struggle with digital literacy skills, so we have a lot of people who still need our services. Supporting this helps us reach more of those adults."